Washington -- The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded Onondaga Community College a $1.2 million grant for a job training program aimed at helping New York employers fill thousands of open high-tech jobs.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said the OCC grant is the second largest among $14.6 million awarded today to 23 SUNY community colleges across the state for high-tech job training.

As part of the overall grant, Cayuga Community College will receive $629,000 for high-tech job training on its campus.

An ecstatic Schumer, who fought for the competitive grant for two years, said the job training program is a leap forward for New York businesses that have about 50,000 unfilled jobs because of a lack of skilled labor.

“One of the greatest challenges facing New York businesses is the skills gap,” Schumer said, adding that the training program is “the perfect antidote” that business leaders requested.

“I’ve been working for two years to get one of the most important grants that New York state could get from the federal government,” Schumer said. "We secured a real win for jobs in New York and the SUNY system. That’s one of the largest pots of money awarded nationwide. I am thrilled with this.”

Under terms of the grant, at least 100 businesses across the state will work with about 30 community colleges to help match workers with jobs in nanotechnology, biosciences and advanced manufacturing.

An alliance of the community colleges and businesses will develop worker skills in seven high-demand industries: advanced manufacturing, aerospace, healthcare, design, renewable energy, entrepreneurship/business/hospitality, and nanotechnology. In the short term, Schumer said, the grants will help train about 3,000 New Yorkers.

SUNY’s grant application to the U.S. Department of Labor was turned down two years ago, but Schumer said he and the colleges worked together to improve the competitive grant application.

Schumer, D-N.Y., the third most powerful member of the U.S. Senate, said he used all of the weight of his office to lobby for the job-training money with U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and other administration officials.

“I called everyone under the sun, all the way up to the White House to try to get this grant because I thought it was so important to the colleges,” Schumer said.

He said the SUNY grants are expected to leverage an additional $25 million in additional investments in high-tech training programs from private companies and other sources.